Ghosts
by Jo. R
Summary: Alternate Universe fic. Their final encounter with Ari introduces Gibbs and his team to Ziva David and her partner. Tony/Kate, McGee/Ziva, Abby/Gibbs. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ghost  
Author: Jo. R  
Rating: PG-13 for now.  
Pairings: Tony/Kate, McGee/Ziva, Abby/Gibbs  
Category: Alternate Universe, Drama, Angst, Romance, Friendship  
Spoilers: Yankee White, High Seas, Bette Noire, Reveille, SWAK, Twilight, Kill Ari 1& 2, Hiatus 1&2, Suspicion  
Summary: Their final encounter with Ari introduces Gibbs' team to Mossad Officer Ziva David and her partner.

Author's Notes: Most of the dialogue in the first five scenes or so is taken directly from the episode 'Twilight'. Some of the later dialogue is from the other episodes mentioned and re-tweaked in this story. Not dramatically AU but different enough to warrant the label.

****

The image of Ari Haswari was still fixed in his mind. The man had hurt one of his people and kidnapped another. NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs had been warned away from the undercover Mossad operative by both his former boss, Director Tom Morrow, and his newly appointed replacement, Director Jenny Sheppard but he still couldn't bring himself to let the subject drop.

A need for vengeance he hadn't felt so strongly in quite a while ran through his veins and caused his blood to heat. His gut and his instincts were screaming at him that there was something wrong about Ari Haswari, something corrupt, despite what Agent Fornell and the FBI and Mossad all believed.

While his team may have shared his suspicions, they knew better than to voice their opinions.

Special Agent Caitlin 'Kate' Todd was on the fence about Ari's involvement with Hamas and Al-Qaeda despite having been held hostage by him twice – once in the morgue at NCIS Headquarters and once when she'd been kidnapped by the would-be terrorist. She still maintained that there was something about the man that kept her from believing he was capable of the cruelty Gibbs would have her believe – though she hadn't mentioned it to him or in front of him, Gibbs had heard her tell Doctor Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, another of Ari's former hostages, and her teammates that there had been something in Ari's eyes that had kept her from killing the terrorist when she'd had the chance.

Gibbs wished she'd done it, just as he wished his aim hadn't been so accurate when he'd shot the undercover agent in the shoulder; a little more to the side and Ari Haswari would be dead.

Special Agent Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo tended to believe Gibbs over Kate but only just, and, Gibbs suspected, because he was still angry over the way Ari had taken Kate hostage twice. The events had awoken a protective instinct in Tony that Gibbs suspected he was having trouble coming to terms with; there'd always been an attraction between Tony and Kate though it had been easy for the pair to deny and control their feelings before they'd both had to face the possibility of losing one another – Tony when Ari had purposely chosen to kidnap Kate and hold her hostage for a second time, Kate more recently when Tony had been infected with the plague.

As for the newest member of his team, Special Agent Timothy 'Tim' McGee... Gibbs wasn't entirely sure what the youngest member of the team thought about the situation. McGee was good at being diplomatic when he needed to be and he was a stickler for rules and orders – more so than Gibbs himself was. While Tony was more like Gibbs, McGee was more like Kate. He was protective of the female member of the team but he wasn't as angry or indignant over what could have happened to her as Tony or Gibbs. McGee, like his colleagues, was confident Kate could take care of herself and he believed her when she said there was something about Ari that made it hard for her to see him as the cold-blooded killer Gibbs was adamant he was.

Taking a generous gulp from the glass of bourbon he'd poured for himself, Gibbs stared at the skeleton of the boat in his basement. Even six hours of working on it, sanding rough surfaces into smooth ones with an almost angry energy, had done little to relax him.

He glanced at his watch and grimaced at the time, knowing he'd have to be up and ready for work in less than four hours despite the fact that sleep continued to elude him. The following day would be Tony's first day back after his extended sick leave and, although he'd never admit it to anyone, Gibbs had actually missed the younger agent's presence.

Out of all of his agents, Gibbs had known Tony the longest. They'd been working together for almost four years, while Kate had only been on the team for almost two years and McGee had only officially been part of the team for nine months. Tony had joined the team after Special Agent Stan Burley had left to accept an Agent Afloat assignment and Gibbs had suspected instantly that he had leadership potential. Life with Tony around was never dull and although he'd often wondered what he'd done to deserve the extra aggravation having an agent like Tony under his command had brought, Gibbs wouldn't trade him for any other agent.

He wouldn't trade any of his team, really, and it was realising that – realising the direction his thoughts were going in – that made him groan and rub his eyes tiredly.

"You're getting soft in your old age," he told himself quietly, contemplating the amber liquid left in his glass before downing the remaining contents in one and heading for the stairs.

He flicked his wrist and plunged the basement into darkness, not bothering with turning any of the other lights on as he made his way through the empty house to his equally empty room.

Thoughts of the past haunted him as he tried to get to sleep, the faces of those he'd loved and lost, known and hated, keeping slumber from taking him in its grasp.

****

Kate sat at her desk, attention focused on her sketch pad in an attempt at taking her mind off the time. She knew Tony was returning to work and would be there any minute but didn't want to think about it; she personally thought it was too soon for him to return to the team, far too soon given she still vividly remembered how weak and frail he'd looked in the hospital while he'd recovered from his illness.

Just thinking about it caused a surge of anger well up inside her, anger for the careless young woman who's lies to save her own reputation had almost cost Tony his life and anger for the mother who'd thought nothing of risking a few lives as revenge for what had happened – or hadn't happened as it had turned out – to her daughter.

In her anger, she pressed the tip of her pencil a little too hard against the grain of the paper, the lead snapping and leaving a smudge over the sketch as she sighed and blew the broken remnants away. She pushed at her dark hair with one hand, reaching for a replacement pencil with the other. A look of concentration appeared on her face as her teeth toyed with her bottom lip, her hand moving with the rapid ease of an artist comfortable with her tools and subject matter.

The eyes that gazed up at her from the paper were warm and full of good-natured humour but with a glint of something a little wicked in their depths. She never had a problem trying to capture his eyes; it was usually a feature she struggled with but not with him. With him, it was his mouth that caused her the most trouble. She could never decide whether to draw him with the almost-arrogant smirk she knew so well or the boyish grin full of mischievous charm...

She sighed softly and ran a finger over the smudge left on the paper by her earlier mishap, so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't sense the presence of the person behind her until he spoke.

"Is that Tony?" McGee leaned over her desk, neck craned as he tried to get a better glimpse of the picture.

"No." She shut the sketchpad with a glare and held it almost protectively against her chest.

McGee frowned at her, scepticism in his eyes. "Are you sure? It really resembles..."

"Is there a reason you've been haunting my desk all week?" She used the distraction technique to slip the sketch pad in her desk, turning the key as quietly as she could.

"Um. No." McGee straightened and took a step back when she got to her own feet. "I was just..."

"Or maybe you just decided to take over DiNozzo's job of annoying me while he's on sick leave." She sound angrier than she felt but couldn't find it in her to feel bad about it. She hadn't slept much the night before and although she knew she shouldn't take it out on McGee, he was an easy and available target.

Stumbling over his words a little, he gave her a quietly assessing look, his green eyes dark with unconcealed concern. "I just wanted to check that everything was okay."

Kate arched an eyebrow and fought the urge to cross her arms over her chest. "Why wouldn't it be?"

He shrugged under the intensity of her gaze, a momentary look of discomfort passing over his face as his eyes darted away from his. "Well, you and Tony were close and, you know..."

"No, I don't know." She stared at him expectantly when he remained silent. "What?"

"He almost died." McGee kept his voice softly as he said it but despite that, they both had to pause as the words and reality of the situation hit them once more.

"We're NCIS agents, McGee." Kate shook her head, forcing the words passed the lump that rose in her throat. "There's a chance one of us might die every time we walk through the door."

He nodded but his eyes and expression showed the lingering guilt he felt. "Yeah, but I'm the idiot that handed him an envelope full of the plague."

Seeing his expression, realising in that moment that his night had more than likely been as disturbed as her own, Kate allowed her anger to abate and sympathy take its place. "Tim, it's not your fault." She kept her voice gentle and reached out to touch his arm. "Look, if you want to think about something, why don't you think about all of the times Tony has insulted us, invaded our privacy... The fact that he almost died owing us all money..."

"That's true." They shared a knowing, companionable smile, affection evident through the exasperation. "He can be pretty obnoxious."

"Uh-huh." Kate nodded and agreed with a smile she knew was a little too fond for the workplace. The phone rang but they both chose to ignore it.

McGee studied her for a moment and, when he spoke, all trace of humour was gone. "Do you miss him as much as I do?"

"More," she admitted with a sigh, blinking quickly when she realised what she'd said. "It's part of his charm. Like an X-rated Peter Pan." She paused for a moment and, realising they were in danger of getting a little too sentimental, swiftly thought of a way to change the subject. "You know he told all the girls downstairs you're gay, right? Said it would cut down on the competition."

The look on McGee's face was comical to say the least and she bit back a smile. "That bastard!"

She patted his arm again, satisfied that she was safely passed the subject of how she felt about Anthony DiNozzo. "Hold onto that feeling and you're going to be just fine."

His voice stopped her from turning away, back to the work she'd been ignoring on her desk. "Do you want to know what he said about you?"

"Mmm." She kept her tone as uninterested as possible; Tony said a lot of things that weren't true, all of them designed to get a reaction out of her and she was determined not to let him succeed again – especially when he wasn't even in the room.

"That you tried to sleep with him when you were in Paraguay."

The matter-of-fact way in which McGee said it had her jaw dropping even as heat flooded her cheeks. Kate ground her teeth together, all kind thoughts about Tony fleeing her mind as self-righteous anger took its place. "I will kill him," she declared fiercely.

The two teammates exchanged another look, revenge on their minds.

*****

Though Gibbs denied waiting for him in the lobby of the building, Tony found himself riding the elevator to the third floor beside his boss. He fought the urge to shiver, his still-healing body reacting to the air conditioning he'd become unaccustomed to, aware of Gibbs' eagle eyes observing him keenly.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Gibbs asked, doubt showing on his face.

Tony forced a grin and bounced on the soles of his feet. "Never felt better."

Gibbs looked at him sceptically. "Yeah."

"Yeah." Tony nodded and widened his grin.

"You look like crap," Gibbs retorted, brutally honest as always.

Tony didn't let it bother him. There'd been a time when it might have done but he knew Gibbs too well and remembered too vividly his boss ordering him not to die when he'd been at death's door in quarantine. He grinned easily instead of getting insulted. "I missed you, too, Boss."

There might've been a shadow of a grin on Gibbs' lips for a moment but it disappeared quickly under the weight of the concern he couldn't hide. "You've got another week of sick leave coming, Tony. You should take it."

"I was going crazy at home." Tony shook his head, ignoring the thumping in it. "Maybe I'm not a hundred percent," he admitted seriously, "but you need me." The look on Gibbs' face said otherwise but he didn't let it faze him. "Okay, what about Kate and McGee? They're practically lost without me!"

Gibbs did smirk then but luckily Tony missed the gesture, distracted by the doors of the elevator sliding open. "They got more work done in the last two weeks than in the whole year."

Tony scrambled to follow him, struggling to match Gibbs' long strides. "They did miss me, right?" He called after his boss.

"Yeah." Gibbs kept his gaze fixed straight ahead and caught a glimpse of the unimpressed looks on McGee and Kate's faces, hiding a grin at the realisation that his team was once again complete. "Something like that."

*****

There was little time for a reunion even if McGee and Kate had decided to be more welcoming to their newly returned colleague. Two sailors were found shot dead in a car just off route seventeen and the case had been assigned to them. It sounded straight forward at first – as straight forward as their cases usually got – but it took a turn for the worse when Tony discovered the car they were working on was wired to explode.

He began to regret his decision to return to work the moment he told McGee and Kate to run, his instincts telling him he would have been better off staying in bed.

An hour later, he was more than ready to hand in his badge and take the extra week of sick leave, rapidly reaching his limit with Ducky's ministrations and lectures on the need to rest and let his body heal. The only good thing about it was that Kate was with him in the morgue, no doubt feeling bad that he was there due to his need – unnecessary need according to her – to protect both her and McGee from the bomb and subsequent explosion.

"You need a rest," Ducky told him firmly, his expression stern.

Tony winced and shook his head in protest. "No. I need to get back to work, Ducky."

The Medical Examiner opened his mouth to protest but it was Kate who beat him to it, fury flashing in her hazel eyes. "Damn it, Tony. I should just take you home and get you in bed." She seemed to freeze the moment the words were out of her mouth, her gaze meeting his for a split second before skittering away from his surprise and Ducky's amusement. "Okay, that didn't come out the way I'd intended..."

Gibbs arrived before she could dig herself deeper into the hole she'd created, much to Tony's disappointment. After being ordered to lie down and take it easy – and told he couldn't do so behind his desk as was his normal routine – Tony made his way to the forensics lab.

There was no one there to greet him, which wasn't surprising. Ever since he'd stared at NCIS, there'd been an on-going succession of forensic scientists, none of whom seemed to last for over six months. The last one had walked out muttering something about Gibbs being too demanding and they'd been working with temps ever since.

The newest temp was quiet, nervous and did her best to keep out of the way. She was more suited to be an assistant – that was the role she'd applied for – but Ruby Rae did her best and got the job done. Not as quickly as Gibbs would have liked but then he had little to no patience for the lab technicians at NCIS. Tony had asked him why once and received a glare and a head-slap that left his ears ringing for hours.

He hadn't asked again.

"Ruby?" There was no response to his call so Tony made his way to the small office attached to the lab – an office he knew the lab tech didn't use. He sat on the floor behind the desk and took of his jacket, bunching it up as a pillow before lying down and making himself as comfortable as possible.

He must've fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he could hear Ruby stuttering an answer to one of Gibbs' questions, the anger in the Special Agent's tone as audible as the anxiety in hers. Tony pushed himself up with a groan and made it into the main part of the lab just in time for Gibbs to come to the conclusion that someone was trying to kill them.

Again.

*****

The case took another interesting turn when Agent Tobias Fornell arrived from the FBI and demanded to speak to Gibbs and Director Sheppard alone. When Gibbs returned from MTAC with a face like thunder, the team knew there was something wrong.

"You know who's after us, Boss?" Tony asked with raised eyebrows. He traded a look with Kate and McGee, both of whom seemed to have forgiven him his misdeeds on account of the fact he'd saved their lives at risk of his own.

"Ari Haswari." Director Jenny Sheppard answered when their boss remained silent, reaching Gibbs' desk with Fornell at her heels just moments after the irate Special Agent himself.

"You let that bastard back into the country?" Tony demanded, attention fixed on Fornell. He ignored the calming hand Kate put on his arm and glared at the FBI Agent.

Fornell looked passed Tony to Gibbs, not wanting to acknowledge the question or the accusation but knowing he didn't have a choice. "He was supposed to be helping us uncover an Al-Qaeda cell here in DC."

"Supposed to be?" It was Kate's turn to ask, her gaze flicking from Fornell to the new Director standing beside him. "He isn't anymore?"

"The FBI now think he's here for more personal reasons," Jenny informed them, her eyes showing her concern as she looked at her one-time lover and still-friend and Agent. "They think he's planning on killing Agent Gibbs." She waited a moment to let the news sink in, then held up a hand to keep them from talking at the same time. "You are forbidden from acting on this information, Agent Gibbs, as are the other members of your team. Mossad are sending two operatives to liaise with us on this case and hopefully resolve the situation without anyone getting hurt."

"Meaning they want to stop us from killing Ari. Well, stop Gibbs from killing Ari," Tony amended with a shrug.

The Director shook her head. "Meaning they want the situation resolved as peacefully and diplomatically as possible. I've worked with one of the agents they're sending over and I can assure you that you won't have an issue with her approach to this matter." She straightened her shoulders and gave Tony a hard look when he opened his mouth to protest. "As of this moment, Agent Gibbs is being taken into protective custody. Agent Todd, I saw from your record that you previously served with the Secret Service as part of the protection detail for the President." At Kate's nod and slightly confused look, Jenny continued. "I'm releasing Agent Gibbs into your custody. Agent Gibbs, I'm expecting you to follow her orders to the letter. As if they were my own."

A small smile played on Kate's lips at that and it only widened when she saw Gibbs' scowl. "That last part? I like."

An answering smile may have flickered on Jenny's lips but it faded almost before it appeared. "Agent Fornell, I believe we're needed in MTAC." She waited until Fornell turned away before glancing back at Gibbs. "I mean it, Jethro. Ari Haswari is off-limits to NCIS until the Mossad operatives get here."

Gibbs said nothing. He didn't acknowledge her order or even look at her as she sighed and moved to follow Fornell from the bullpen to the stairs leading to MTAC. He waited until she was out of earshot before turning to his team, biting back a sigh at the obvious concern on their faces.

"McGee, what did you find out about Westfall?" Westfall was one of the officers killed in the shooting, Tony remembered, the one whose hands had been removed by his killer.

McGee hesitated, glancing uncertainly at Kate and Tony for a second. He started talking when Gibbs advanced forward, a sound that was suspiciously like a growl escaping from him. "He was working with an aerospace contractor in Maryland. Danborn Avionics. The... Ah. The FBI sent a team over to the company to investigate their security, Boss. The Director just told me before she called you to her office or I would've said something sooner..."

"Damn the FBI." Gibbs glared in the direction of MTAC and shook his head. It was getting late, he was getting tired and, from the looks of his team, he wasn't the only one. "Go home and get some sleep," he ordered brusquely. "Tomorrow we go to Danborn Avionics and find what the FBI missed."

"Ah, Gibbs." It was Kate who stopped him from moving, an eyebrow arched. "You're not going home until I've had a chance to arrange two teams. Six hour shifts, alternating radio checks every ten minutes. I need time to get the surveillance set up and linked back to MTAC..."

"Not necessary, Kate. I'm not going home." Gibbs looked at her and swallowed another sigh. "I'm staying here tonight."

She didn't look convinced but then neither did the other members of his team. "You won't leave the building?"

"Not without calling you first. I'm just gonna go see downstairs and see Ducky." He held his hands up in mock-surrender when she frowned at him. "Get some sleep. All of you. Especially you, DiNozzo. You look like you could pass out at any minute."

"Hey!" Tony called after him, frowning at Gibbs' retreating back. "DiNozzo's don't pass out! Cry and feel sorry for ourselves, yeah, but we do not pass out!" He turned back to his teammates with a 'can you believe him?' expression on his face only to find them staring at him, amusement visible despite the severity of the situation. "What?"

"He's right, Tony," McGee told him with a small grin. "You don't look so hot."

Tony glared at him as McGee made his way to his desk, obviously prepared to settle in for the long haul. "Thanks a lot, Probie. Coming from you, that means so much." He turned his attention to Kate when he felt her hand on his arm, unable to keep the surprise from showing on his face at the concern written clearly on hers. "I'm fine," he insisted quietly.

"You need to rest," she told him softly. "I can't be looking after Gibbs and worrying about you."

He gaped at her, for once speechless. She gave him an almost shy smile, her cheeks flushed, and squeezed his arm before moving to the floor behind her own desk.

It was an interesting end to an interesting – and long – day. Tony settled behind his own desk, using the spare shirt he kept in the third drawer of the filing cabinet as a pillow and wondered what the next day would bring.

*****

McGee volunteered to go out and get coffee the following morning. Gibbs wouldn't let him go alone and, as Kate and Tony were still sleeping as soundly as they could behind their respective desks, McGee didn't feel like he had a choice. He couldn't refuse his boss without back-up and he'd been warned by Gibbs not to wake Kate or Tony.

They walked in silence from the NCIS building, heading to the small coffee shop on the Navy Yard. McGee kept his hand close to his gun as Gibbs placed their order, wondering how his boss could seem so calm and collected knowing a wanted terrorist was after him.

It wasn't so much Ari that McGee was worried about, though. The Navy Yard had great security and he knew the Director would've made sure security was tightened to extend to all visitors after the threat to Gibbs had been revealed. No, McGee was more worried that Gibbs was going to try and get away from him – that he'd have to then explain to Kate and Tony that he was responsible for letting Gibbs get away from them without someone there to watch his back.

"Still addicted to coffee, I see." The husky voice had him reaching for his gun at the same time as Gibbs spun around to face the newcomer. The look on his face was as stunned as McGee had ever seen him and he shifted slightly to view the woman who'd caused it.

A black-haired woman with a short biker-style leather jacket and close-fitting black jeans smirked at Gibbs, her hair in a tight ponytail. Her eye make-up was dark and heavy, lips painted a striking deep red and there was a choker around her neck that reminded him of a dog collar his parents had once bought for the family pet. A tattoo of a cobweb graced the side of her elegant neck and her startlingly green eyes assessed him coolly for a moment.

"This your bodyguard?" She asked Gibbs with the quirk of her lips. "I'm surprised you haven't lost him by now."

"Abby." It was the first thing Gibbs had said since playing their order and McGee noted that he sounded as surprised as he looked. "What are you doing here?"

The woman – Abby – shrugged her shoulders and glanced around. She looked comfortable enough but McGee could see her eyes were sharp and searching, her body tensed as though she sensed danger he himself couldn't feel. "I got an assignment," she answered evasively, glancing around her as she did. "I'd rather not discuss it here, and my partner's waiting for us back at NCIS so..."

"Your partner?" Gibbs repeated the phrase slowly. "Since when do lab rats have partners?"

Abby sighed and for the first time, McGee saw something akin to weariness on her face. "Since I stopped being a lab rat and started working in the field."

Gibbs grabbed the coffees and took his own, passing the rest to McGee before falling in step with Abby, leaving his agent to walk behind them and wonder. "You never said anything about wanting to be in the field, Abby. I thought you were happy in the lab."

"I was," she replied almost too quietly for McGee to hear. "I never said it was an assignment I wanted."

They lapsed into a silence that couldn't be called comfortable and McGee kept his eyes on them as they made their way back to NCIS Headquarters. He couldn't wait to talk to Tony and Kate and see what they made of this development.

*****

Tony and Kate had a development of their own to tell him about. The Mossad agent Director Sheppard had told them about had arrived and was none too pleased with the FBI accusations that Ari Haswari had betrayed his organisation with the intention of killing an NCIS agent.

"It is not possible," the agent, Officer Ziva David, told them with her arms folded over her chest. "I do not know why Ari has not been in contact with you, Agent Fornell, but I am certain that he is not after your Agent Gibbs. Perhaps there is another who would want him dead, yes? I am certain he has made many enemies during his time in service to your country."

"Gibbs does have a habit of annoying people, Ziva, but the FBI are pretty sure that Ari has defected." Director Sheppard looked almost apologetic. "How else can you explain him failing to meet with them or contact them as planned?"

"Perhaps he is at risk of discovery," Ziva suggested, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. She ignored the sceptical look Kate and Tony shared. In fact, she ignored the two NCIS agents altogether. "He is risking his life to save your country from another terrorist attack. He is undercover with both Hamas and Al-Qaeda. It is entirely possible that he has had to remain silent to prevent them from discovering he is really a Mossad agent."

Agent Fornell gave a short nod, considering the theory. "It's possible, Officer David, which is why we haven't gone public with our searches. The last thing we want is to waste the work that has gone into this operation."

Temporarily placated, Ziva responded with a small nod of her own. "Good. Then we are agreed that Ari is not to be considered a traitor until I have had a chance to question him." She looked to the Director, who also nodded her agreement. "Is Agent Gibbs here? I will need to talk to him and his team regarding any knowledge they may have about Ari's whereabouts."

"Agent Gibbs and his team have been working on a separate case," Jenny informed her evenly. "There is no evidence to suggest it might be linked to Ari so I'm not sure they'll be able to help you. That said," she added with a pointed look at Kate and Tony, "I would very much like to know where Special Agent Gibbs is myself."

"Right here, Jen." His timing as immaculate as always, Gibbs arrived to hear the tail-end of the conversation, accompanied by McGee and a black-haired woman neither Jenny, Kate or Tony recognised.

"Abigail Sciuto," Fornell muttered in surprise. "I'll be damned."

"I'd like to say it's good to see you, Tobias, but unfortunately, I'm not here for a reunion." Abby gave Ziva a questioning look. "Do they know where we can find Ari?"

Ziva shook her head and sighed when Abby moved to stand at her side. "I was just about to ask Agent Gibbs and his team if they had any ideas."

"You... You're working with Mossad?" Gibbs looked at Abby with a frown on his face, blue eyes narrowed. "Since when?"

"Since a year after I left NCIS," Abby answered simply with a shrug as if to emphasis the point. "A lot's changed, Jethro. I'm not the person I used to be."

"From Queen of the lab to international agent," Fornell grinned at Gibbs. "Always told you there was more to her than meets the eye, Gibbs. I'm disappointed you didn't come to the FBI, though, Abby."

Abby responded to his look with the roll of her eyes. "I've never been that desperate, Tobias, and I hope I never am." She turned her attention to the Director and held out a hand. "Director Sheppard, I presume. Abigail Sciuto."

Jenny took the outstretched hand and grasped it firmly. "Pleased to meet you. You must be the American the Assistant Director told me would be accompanying Officer David on this mission. I had no idea you'd worked with NCIS before."

"At NCIS," Gibbs corrected, his gaze still fixed on Abby. "She was one of us."

Abby tensed at the past tense but no one commented on it. Ziva shifted a little closer to her and cleared her throat to detract the attention from her companion. "Might I suggest we move to another location and introduce ourselves formally? I am sure you would all like this situation to be resolved as soon as we would."

"Of course." Jenny gave a small smile of agreement and motioned to Gibbs. "Agent Gibb and his team will show you to the conference room. You can discuss the case there." She waited until Gibbs met her gaze and held it steadily. "I expect to be kept updated of any and all progress you make. The Director of the FBI has agreed to let NCIS work this case with Mossad in return for full disclosure."

"Understood, Director."

Jenny left and Fornell followed her example, looking reluctant to leave the party. Gibbs led the extended team to the conference room, ignoring the speculative murmurs from his agents.

*****

Ziva and Gibbs remained standing when they reached the conference room. Abby took a seat at one side of the table, unsurprised when Gibbs' team took seats opposite her. They watched her with as much suspicion as they did Ziva if not more because of her former connection with NCIS.

"I understand that you have no reason to trust us," Abby began after a nod from Ziva. "Ari was forced to do some... unpleasant things in order to maintain his cover and on behalf of Mossad, we'd like to apologise for that. However," she stifled a sigh at the snort from one of the agents sitting opposite her and clasped her hands together on the table. "Until you give us conclusive evidence that he is guilty of the crimes you claim he is, we cannot permit you to blow his cover." She gave Gibbs a sidelong glance. "Or blow his head off," she added quietly.

"He shot an innocent man, a hostage." It was Kate who spoke, her voice angry.

"Shot, but did not kill," Ziva retorted quickly. "And he could have shot you, Agent Todd, could he not? He could have killed both you and Doctor Mallard but he refrained from doing so."

"Only to save his own skin," Tony chimed in. "He knew we were onto him."

Ziva glared at him but held her tongue. She crossed her arms across her chest, fingernails digging into her flesh. "Director Sheppard informed Mossad that you are investigating a case you suspect to be linked to Ari's disappearance. Two dead sailors. The FBI said a company called Danborn Avionics was somehow involved."

"One of the murdered sailors has connections to it," McGee answered vaguely, drawing her dark eyes to him. "He was the military liaison for Danborn's Modular UAV project but we don't know any more than that. The FBI took over before we could pursue to lead."

"That sounds like the FBI." Abby rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder again – at Ziva or Gibbs, no one could really tell. "We should get over there and see what's going on. Solving this case might lead us to Ari or it might clear his name completely."

Ziva seemed to hesitate, her gaze shifting from McGee to rest on Abby. For a long moment, the two women said nothing. "We have leads to follow on Ari's whereabouts, Abby. Agent Gibbs and his team can complete their investigation without us."

"And if they find Ari before we do?" Abby kept her gaze fixed on Ziva's face. "At least one of us should go with them, Ziva, and you're better in the field than I am. I'll follow the leads on Ari and I'll call you if I find anything."

"You're not going after him on your own." Gibbs' protest took his team of agents by surprise. "He's a killer, Abby. He won't hesitate to shoot you if you get in the way."

While Ziva bristled at the insinuation, Abby merely arched an eyebrow. "He won't shoot me. He knows who I am."

"And how is that?" Gibbs moved forward, leaning over her, into her personal space. He was aware of his agents watching the scene unfold but ignored the sensation of being watched. "Exactly how well do you know Ari, Abby?"

She held his gaze unflinchingly, emerald green and ice blue. "Well enough to know he wouldn't kill me even if he is as corrupt as you'd have us believe."

"Ari would not kill another Mossad operative," Ziva interrupted the moment before it could stretch on too long. "Just as I am sure you would not kill another NCIS agent." She looked passed Gibbs to Abby and gave a small nod. "I will go with you to Danborn Avionics and we will prove that Ari is not involved in the murders of your people."

*****

The NCIS investigation led the team to a search of Danborn Avionic's hangar bay, where they discovered one of the Modular UAV's was missing. Kate and Tony treated Ziva with icy cold courtesy while McGee made an effort to be diplomatic with the Mossad liaison.

Gibbs didn't seem to care either way.

It was Ziva who worked out that the terrorist cell was targeting the return of the Marine Amphibious Strike Group and the families of the service men and women who'd be waiting at Norfolk for the return of their loved ones but even that didn't win her any support from Gibbs, Tony or Kate. McGee tried to give her a reassuring smile on their way to the location he'd helped pinpoint with the help of Ruby but while she didn't blank him or treat him coldly, her mind was clearly on other things.

Namely Ari, who was still missing, and Abby, who hadn't been in touch with the team since they'd parted ways earlier.

While McGee was intrigued by the black-haired woman who clearly had a past with his boss, his mind was mostly taken up with thoughts of the exotic Israeli sitting beside him in the backseat of the car. He was sitting in the middle, with Tony on one side and Ziva on the other, his thigh pressed against hers and despite his efforts to the contrary, he couldn't keep his mind from straying to less than professional areas.

She was a beautiful woman. Intelligent, tough. She was strong and determined but there was something else about her that caught his attention and drew him in, something almost fragile about the way she held herself, the way she kept her distance from them all.

He wondered what her connection to Ari Haswari was, if perhaps she was searching for a lover as much as a colleague. The thought actually made him envy the suspected terrorist, which wasn't a pleasant experience.

Before he could dwell on his thoughts too much, they arrived at their destination and he was soon kept too busy to think about anything else but stopping the UAV from reaching its target – and avoiding the bullets that rained down on him.

*****

She approached him quietly, careful not to let the grit on the roof crunch too loudly beneath the soles of her shoes.

Still, he knew she was here.

"Go away, Abigail. This is none of your concern."

Abby continued moving closer, pausing when he turned his head to glare at her. "It's my concern when you start assisting the terrorists you're supposed to be stopping." She looked passed him to the building he was focused on, unable to make out the identities of the people she could only just see gathered there but able to make an educated guess. "What are you doing, Ari?"

"Tying up some loose ends," Ari Haswari answered, his attention focused on the target he had in the cross-hairs of his Bravo-51. "It is nothing for you to worry about, Abigail. Go. I will meet you and Ziva in Paris once I am finished here."

"You're already finished here, Ari." Her tone was sad but firm. "If you do this, we'll have no way of protecting you. It's not too late to stop."

He kept his back to her, his focus absolute. "It is too late. Leave, Abigail. You cannot stop me and I do not wish to harm you."

"Yes, I can." He heard the click of her weapon as the safety catch was disengaged. "Turn around, Ari. It's over."

There was a tense moment as the shoot-out not 600 metres from where they were came to an end. The air was still, almost eerily so. If she wasn't so focused on Ari, Abby might have only just been able to make out one of the figures on the roof opposite them helped up by two others, a fourth lingering in the background, unnoticed and unwelcome.

She moved when she saw his finger twitch, unable to pull the trigger but able to knock into him, forcing him to miss his target. Ari swore and turned to face her.

His angry face was the last thing she remembered before pain and darkness engulfed her.

*****


	2. Chapter 2

From the trajectory of the bullet that sliced through the air between them, there was no doubt in Tony's mind who the intended target had been. For that reason, he tightened his grip on Kate's hand as they stumbled down the stairs of the building after Gibbs and Ziva, neither one of them able to keep up due to injury. He felt breathless and wobbly on his feet but wasn't sure if it was due to his slow recovering from the pneumonic plague or a reaction to the knowledge that he'd almost lost her again. Kate herself as struggling due to having the wind knocked out of hr by the bullet she'd taken to the chest – thankfully, though, it had been stopped by the vest she'd been wearing.

The one that had so narrowly missed her head would've done a lot more damage.

It was by silent agreement that Tony and Kate stayed at the shot-up car to wait for back-up while McGee accompanied Gibbs and Ziva in their search for the building the shot had come from. When the others were gone, Tony drew Kate against him, pleasantly surprised when she didn't protest.

"He was trying to kill me," Kate said softly, her voice half-muffled against his chest. His arms tightened around her in silent agreement but Tony couldn't bring himself to speak. "Why me? Why not Gibbs?"

"I don't know," Tony admitted, eyes sliding shut for a moment at the images playing through his mind, horrific pictures of Kate lying dead at his feet. "He won't get the chance again."

*****

It was a combination of sheer luck and Ziva's instincts that led them to the right building. She dismissed two of McGee's suggestions and moved on, leading them straight to the would-be sniper nest.

Though he was a little out of breath by the time they reached the roof, McGee still observed and committed to memory everything that happened when they reached their destination.

He heard a cry of anguish escape Ziva's lips and watched as both her and Gibbs rushed over to the motionless form on the ground beside the spent cartridges. He followed them at a slightly slower pace, noting the tears glimmering in Ziva's dark eyes and the obvious worry lining Gibbs' face.

Ziva immediately pushed her hands against Abby's wound, seemingly oblivious to the warm blood spilling out over her fingers while Gibbs pressed his fingers to the tattoo on her neck, feeling for a pulse.

McGee watched relief cross his boss's face when he found one and had his cell phone out and in his hand before Gibbs could even think about making it an order.

"Ari could not have done this," Ziva murmured, more to herself than to either of the men around her. McGee heard the torment in her voice, the utter despair she tried valiantly to keep from showing on her face. "He would not hurt Abby."

"Someone did." Gibbs let his fingers linger over the soft skin of her neck for a brief moment. "What will you do if she wakes up and tells you it was Ari who stabbed her?"

Ziva couldn't or wouldn't answer. She dropped her gaze back to her unconscious colleague and stayed silent.

"Ambulance is on its way, Boss." McGee put his phone back in his pocket and slipped of his jacket, crouching down beside Ziva as Gibbs reluctantly stood to survey the area. He folded his jacket quickly and eased it under her hands. "It'll help slow the blood more than your hands."

"Thank you, Agent McGee." The smile she gave him was worth the cost of replacing the jacket and made something in his stomach tighten. He returned the smile with a nod, the tips of his ears burning, and stood to join Gibbs.

"You think it was Ari?" McGee asked, deliberately keeping his voice too quiet for Ziva to hear.

Gibbs glanced at him and inclined his head. "Can't think of anyone else who's trying to kill us, McGee." He sighed and looked away, eyes narrowed as he tried to spot the building they'd been on when the terrorist had attacked. "If Abby hadn't been here, Kate would be dead."

Momentarily surprised, certain Gibbs had been the target, McGee couldn't help but gape at his boss. "He was aiming for Kate?"

"I think so. Don't know why." The sound of sirens could be heard from the street below. "Go down and tell them where we are then called DiNozzo and Todd. We need to record both scenes, see if he left us anything to go on."

McGee nodded but was stopped from leaving when he glanced at Ziva and caught a glimpse of a tear running down her cheek. "What about Officer David?"

"What about her?" Gibbs half-turned and looked at the woman leaning over Abby's unconscious form.

"She's obviously upset," McGee pointed out. "Maybe she knows there's a chance Ari did this and she'll be willing to help us out."

Gibbs watched the woman in question for a few moments, his gaze dropping every so often to the prone form beside her, which didn't escape McGee's interest. "We'll see what Abby says when she comes round. If we can get her on our side, Mossad might be willing to listen."

No ifs or maybes, a definite 'when'. McGee got the impression that anything else wasn't up for consideration. He left to follow his orders and once again found himself wondering about the past relationship between Gibbs and the former forensic scientist. He knew Gibbs had been married three times in the past but he'd been certain all of his ex-wife's were redheads.

Maybe he was wrong.

*****

Waking up in the morgue was always a surreal experience but as it wasn't the first time it had happened, Abby wasn't too disturbed by it. She stared at up at the familiar ceiling for a few moments, trying to recall if anything had changed, trying to remember the last time she'd woken up there.

It'd been a long time ago, when she'd still been the bouncy Goth forensic scientist she still sometimes wished she was. The last time she'd woken up there, it had been to Ducky's smiling face and the smell of freshly brewed tea.

There was no scent of tea on the air to greet her as she struggled to sit upright, just a sharp pain in her stomach when the movement aggravated the stitches keeping her injury closed.

"Right." She closed her eyes and willed the nausea away, remembering all too clearly the feeling of the knife being pushed into her flesh, slicing effortless through skin and muscle with a sickening sound she was sure she'd never forget. "Ari."

Grief and anger coursed through her and she lifted a hand to her eyes, determined not to give into the sudden urge to cry.

"Hey." Gibbs kept his voice gentle but still startled her. She let her hand drop and saw him push himself off the gurney beside hers. "How you feeling?"

"Like I was stabbed in the stomach." She tried to smile but the attempt fell flat. She curled a hand over her injury protectively, wondering how long he'd been there. Wondering how much of her he'd seen. She wasn't in the same outfit she remembered choosing from her meagre collection – surgical overalls weren't something she owned, which meant someone had undressed and redressed her. "How long was I out?"

He made a show of glancing at his watch though she suspected from the shadows under his eyes that he knew without looking. "It's almost thirty hours since we found you. Ari's still missing."

She didn't protest or ask what Ari had to do with it, confirming his suspicions on who was behind the attack on her. "Is everyone else okay? He didn't hit anyone?"

"Thanks to you." Gibbs walked towards her, crowding into her space. He set one hand on the gurney beside her and lifted the other to her neck, fingertips tracing the lines of the spider web tattooed onto her pale skin. "This is new."

The light touch made her shiver but if anyone asked, Abby would say it was because of the low temperature in the morgue. "I got it a year ago."

"In Israel?" His fingers were warm against her skin and she tilted her head unconsciously to give him better access.

"No." Her eyes slid shut of their own accord, a sigh escaping her when his hand cupped her neck fully, his palm resting heavily against her skin. "Gibbs..."

"What happened to Jethro?" He took his hand away after a moment more, his eyes fixed on hers when she opened them. The look on his face was intense and she knew before he spoke what he was going to ask. "Why did you leave, Abby?"

"I couldn't stay." Her gaze dropped meaningfully to the hand resting beside her leg. "No wedding band."

"Steph's long gone." He tilted her face up with a gentle finger under her chin. "If you'd stuck around, you would've known that."

"Stephanie was never the only problem and you know it." Abby sighed softly, wincing when the movement jarred her injury. "Where's Ziva?"

An answering sigh escaped him as he recognised the change in subject for what it was; a diversion away from the real conversation they needed to have. "Last I saw, she was heading for MTAC to talk with the Assistant Director of Mossad. She wouldn't leave you till she knew you were going to be okay."

"She's a good friend." A ghost of a smile curved her generous lips and he could see the genuine affection she held for the Israeli woman. "Does she know it was Ari who did this? Does Mossad know?"

"I think she's waiting to hear it from you before she tells them. The Assistant Director wasn't very receptive of the idea as far as I know." He watched her expression change. "Is there something I should know, Abby? About you and Ari?"

Abby was saved from answering by the sound of someone clearing their voice. Both she and Gibbs turned their attention to the door and saw Ducky and Jenny standing there. How long they'd been there, neither knew, but from the look on the Director's face, Gibbs suspected they'd been watching for a while.

"Abigail, my dear." The smile that arranged Ducky's lips was warm and genuine, his blue eyes lit up in a way Gibbs couldn't remember seeing in quite a long time. "It's so good to see you again, though I wish the circumstances were different."

"Me, too, Ducky." Abby tried to get off the gurney she was on but Gibbs stopped her with a hard stare. Instead, she had to settle for leaning over to hug Ducky when he approached her, one hand still against her stomach as she wrapped her other arm around him. "I've missed you so much," she murmured, no fears or tension keeping her from showing how she felt about the doctor. "How's your mother?"

Ducky drew back with suspiciously bright eyes but neither Abby or Gibbs commented on it. Jenny just watched the three of them curiously, knowing there was a shared history between them that she knew nothing about. "Mother is well, thank you. She'd be very pleased to see you."

"I'd like to see her, too." Abby's smile faded a little as she realised it might not be possible but she forced her mind away from her personal feelings and concentrated on the frowning Director. "Director Sheppard, is Ziva still talking to Mossad?"

"She is, though the Assistant Director asked to speak to her in private." Jenny surveyed her almost as intently as Gibbs had. "If you're feeling up to it, I'm sure she'd appreciate your company."

"I'm up for it." She tried to get down again, only for both men to glare at her. "I need to do this, guys. I need to tell them it was Ari."

Ducky reluctantly stepped away and let Gibbs help her down. "You need to rest, my girl. As soon as you're done in MTAC, I want you back down here for at least an hour. I want to check your stitches, too."

"She'll be here, Duck." Gibbs' tone left no room for argument. He gave Jenny a curt nod and put an arm around Abby's waist to escort her out of the morgue.

*****

Assistant Director Eli David of Mossad glared at his daughter from the screen in MTAC. Ziva fought the urge to wrap her arms around her middle defensively and held her father's stare.

"Do you believe Ari would turn against us, Ziva?" Eli demanded, his eyes hard – either at the accusations she'd made or the belief Ari had turned against them. Ziva didn't know which, though she suspected it was the former. "Do you believe he has so little regard for us that he would betray his country, his people, his family?"

"I cannot say for certain but the knife found with Abby is an exact replica of the one I have." Ziva held her ground, vividly remembering the blood stained blade found beneath Abby's crumpled form. "When she regains consciousness, she will be able to confirm or deny Ari's involvement in the assignation attempt on Agent Todd and the attack on her person."

Eli's expression was stormy. "You would believe her above Ari? You must not forget that she was one of these people, Ziva. She once worked for NCIS and may still feel a sense of loyalty towards them."

"If you doubted her loyalty, you should never have recruited her for Mossad." Ziva tilted her head to the side, a challenging glint in her eye she didn't use often on her father – if at all. She, however, had no doubts about Abby's loyalty to her. They'd become close friends in the four years they'd known one another and Abby was one of the few people she would trust with life – the only person, really, if she thought about it truthfully. "Abby has given up much for Mossad's cause or have you forgotten? She has no reason to implicate Ari if he is innocent."

The door to MTAC opened and she turned to glare at the intruder, her expression softening when she saw the paler than usual face of her friend. Ziva smiled at her in welcome though her eyes were guarded when she noted the way Agent Gibbs refused to leave her side and shut the door firmly behind them, sealing himself into the room as well.

"Abigail." Eli's voice was curt, almost to the point of cold. Ziva could tell it had surprised Gibbs but Abby remained unaffected by the lack of concern.

"Director." As curt as he'd been, Abby acknowledged him with the slight inclination of her head.

The Assistant Director – soon to be Director of Mossad – stared at her in silence for a few moments, waiting for her to give in first, sighing when she didn't. "Can you identify your attacker and explain to me why you were there in the first place?"

"I was there to talk to Agent Haswari, Director." Despite the pain it caused, Abby crossed her hands behind her back and stood with her back ramrod straight, her shoulders tense. Almost at attention, Ziva noted in approval, even as her heart broke at the verbal report. "I was able to trace a cell phone number I'd been given from another undercover operative to the building and when I got there, I saw Agent Haswari preparing to assassinate a target I could not identify. I confronted him and he told me to leave. I refused and informed him I couldn't let him go through with his plans and was able to distract him just in time. He stabbed me in retaliation and left me to die."

His lips pursed, Eli glared at her. "Are you certain he intended to harm you, Abigail? Perhaps he mistook you for an enemy?"

"He called me by name, Director. He knew it was me."

There was a moment of tense silence. Ziva was grateful her father's attention had shifted to Abby, certain he would be disappointed by the emotion showing on her face. Despair, grief, anger, pain... She felt an array of feelings, her heart aching with the knowledge that the gut feeling she'd had when she left Israel was proving to be right.

"You say you distracted him," Eli continued eventually. "If you believe him to be a traitor, why did you not simply kill him yourself?"

Ziva heard Abby's quick intake of breath and noted Gibbs' undisguised interest in her answer.

"I tried," Abby admitted softly. "I couldn't pull the trigger."

Another stony silence followed her confession. Ziva instinctively reached for Abby's hand, clasping it firmly away from her father's gaze.

"Investigate the situation further, Ziva," Eli ordered. "I want Ari captured alive and brought back to Israel for interrogation." He seemed to hesitate, his gaze shifting from his daughter to the woman beside him. "I believe this is where our association comes to an end, Abigail. Your resignation has been accepted."

The connection was terminated before Abby could respond. Ziva turned to her instead, brown eyes wide and almost accusing.

"You did not tell me you were planning to resign," she accused, drawing her hand away so she could cross her arms over her chest. "Where you going to tell me?"

"As soon as the situation with Ari was resolved, though I guess Mossad have decided they don't want me t see it through." The wry smile on Abby's face was forced. "There's nothing for me in Israel anymore, Ziva. You know that. I was going to tell you, I promise."

Though she believed her, Ziva couldn't get over the hurt and betrayal as quickly as she would have liked. She ignored the hand Abby held out for her and looked passed her. "What will you do now? You have no home, no job..."

"I'll find something." Abby let one shoulder rise and fall. "I've had a few offers from a couple of different agencies in the US. I might accept one of them or I might find something else altogether." She bit down on her bottom lip when Ziva still refused to look at her. "If you want me to help out with finding Ari, I will. Or if you want me to just disappear, I can do that, too."

"I don't know what I want." Tears glimmered in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Ziva tightened her jaw and let her arms drop to her sides so she could clench her hands into fists, using the pain of her fingernails digging into her palms as a distraction from the relentless ache in her chest. "I just want this to be over."

She strode out of the room without looking back, forcing her mind to focus on finding Ari and forgetting everything else. There was only so much a woman could handle and she was rapidly reaching her limits.

*****

The three members of Gibbs team sat crowded around Kate's desk, cartons of Chinese food resting on almost every available surface. McGee kept glancing surreptitiously at the stairs leading to MTAC while Kate and Tony kept trying to sneak glances at one another without being caught. Eventually growing tired of the game, Kate nudged Tony's side and motioned to McGee with her head.

"Who are you looking for, McGee?" Had he being paying more attention, McGee would have noticed the smirk on Tony's lips. "You think Officer David might need a shoulder to cry on when she's done being grilled by her boss?"

Startled at the mention of her name, McGee's head turned so quickly Kate winced in sympathy. "Officer David? No. Why? You think she'll be upset?"

While Tony continued to smirk, Kate rolled her eyes at him and gave McGee a gentle smile. "You really like her, don't you, Tim?"

"What?" His cheeks flushed even as he shook his head in denial. "I don't know her," he protested. "I've only known her a few days..."

"And you've been caught staring at her more times in those few days than I've ever caught you staring at Kate," Tony pointed out with a grin. He shrugged when Kate looked at him. "What?"

She gave him a curious look. "You take count when McGee stares at me?"

It was McGee's turn to direct the conversation away from himself and he took it gratefully. "He takes note whenever any guy looks at you, Kate. He gets jealous when you look back."

"Oh, really?" An amused smile curved the corners of her mouth as Kate turned her attention to the man sitting next to her instead of the one opposite. "Is that true, DiNozzo? You get jealous of other guys checking me out?"

A shadow passed over his face and Tony shrugged. "You're not theirs to check out."

"So what does it mean when you check me out?" Kate wanted to know, the smile growing wider when he ducked his head in embarrassment. She leaned closer, invading his personal space. "Does that mean you think I'm yours or that you have some kind of duty as a guy to check out every woman that passes by?"

"I don't check out every woman," Tony denied quickly. It was true, too – and had been for the last few months, though he'd never admit that to Kate. "Just the good looking ones," he added quickly, a trademark grin on his face.

"Then why are you not fawning over Officer David?" Kate wanted to know, her eyes alight with mischief. "She's certainly attractive. Very beautiful, in fact. Even McGee thinks she's hot..."

"Hey!"

McGee's protest was ignored as Tony shrugged and considered how to answer. "Maybe she's not my type."

"She's exactly your type, Tony," Kate retorted. "So why aren't you chasing after her?"

"Because the only woman he's been interested in chasing for the last four months is you, which isn't a surprise since you've been flirting big-time recently and all you seem to be able to draw is Tony." McGee delivered the blow with a rare smirk, pleased to have once got the upper-hand over both Tony and Kate, both of whom could do little but gape at him. Footsteps on the stairs caught his attention and he saw a blur he recognised as Ziva David hurry passed their desks towards the elevator and was up on his feet before he'd even considered what he was going to do. "See you later."

He left two stunned and equally embarrassed agents in his wake.

"You've been drawing me?" Tony gave her a sidelong glance, wondering where she'd hidden her sketch pad this time.

Kate covered her embarrassment with a challenging look and met his interested gaze. "You've been chasing me?"

"You didn't notice?"

They'd moved closer without realising it. Tony let his gaze slip to her lips, warmth spreading through him when he looked back up in time to see her own eyes drift downwards. He didn't know which of them reached out first but the next conscious thought he had was that her lips really were as soft as they looked.

"So you did decide to abolish rule 12 after all." The low murmur didn't disturb them but the growl that accompanied it had them jumping apart in a hurry. Both Tony and Kate looked sheepish as Gibbs glared at them but neither were particularly apologetic.

"Move your hand, DiNozzo," Gibbs warned, his eyes narrowed. "You, too, Agent Todd."

Beside him, Abby nudged him in the side, a small smile on her face even if it didn't reach her eyes. "Let them be, Gibbs," she told him quietly. "They're not doing anyone any harm."

"Rule 12 exists for a reason, Abby." Gibbs retorted, waiting for his agents to follow his orders, satisfied when Tony and Kate put a respectable amount of distance between them. "Romance between agents never works out."

"You weren't saying that four years ago," Abby countered, a flash of hurt on her face that disappeared so quickly Kate had to check with Tony to make sure it'd been there at all.

Gibbs shifted his attention to her then, his features softening for an instant. "You were never an agent."

"I suppose there was never any romance, either." She stepped away from him, deliberately forcing his hand to drop from her back. "I can find my own way back to autopsy. You and your agents have a terrorist to find."

She walked away, her shoulders stiff, and neither Kate or Tony were fooled into thinking it was because of her injury. They looked to Gibbs, more intrigued than ever, but their boss ignored them and made his way to his own desk, lashing out at the filing cabinet with his foot as he passed it.

"There's definitely something there," Tony murmured to Kate, his voice barely higher than a whisper.

Kate rolled her eyes and threw a noodle from her forgotten Chinese at him. "You think, DiNozzo? What gave it away?"

He grinned at her and picked the noodle up from where it'd fallen onto his arm, holding her gaze as he put it in his mouth and swallowed. "You want to go grab a coffee or something?"

"We shouldn't really leave the building," Kate replied warily, a little voice at the back of her mind reminding her of Ari and the threat he still posed. "Ari's still out there."

"That's why I said or something."

*****

He made it through the elevator doors just before they slid shut. Ziva stared at him from where she stood in the far corner of the elevator, arms folded over her chest as though she was trying to make herself look as small as possible.

"Hey." He kicked himself internally but couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked upset and angry and, God help him, extremely beautiful with her cheeks flushed and her eyes glittering. "You okay?"

"Do I look okay, Agent McGee?" She glared at him fiercely, moving her arms so her hands could rest on her hips.

"No, not really." McGee bit back a sigh and half-wished Gibbs was there to slap the back of his head. "I mean, you look great, but you're upset."

"Very perceptive of you." A little of her anger seemed to drain away and Ziva let her arms fall to her sides, resting heavily against the back wall of the elevator. "Why did you come after me, Agent McGee? I was under the impression your people distrust me as much as they do Ari."

"Not all of us." McGee shook his head in protest. "And it's just McGee. Or Tim."

Ziva frowned in confusion. "What is?"

"My name. You don't have to call me Agent McGee all of the time." He took a step forward and hit the emergency stop before he could stop himself. "I was there when we found Abby on the roof. I know you care about her. It's normal to be upset when someone you care about is hurt – you don't have to hide it."

She snorted and shook her head. "You do not know my family, Tim. Crying is a sign of weakness and I am not weak."

"I never said you were but you're just human like the rest of us." He held her gaze, inwardly wondering why he suddenly felt confident in her presence – wondering where the urge to protect this woman who obviously didn't need his protection had come from. "Is Abby going to be okay? That's not why you're upset, is it?"

Ziva closed her eyes on a sigh and let her shoulders slump. "Abby will be fine. She has chosen to stay in American rather than return with me to Israel. She is no longer Mossad and no longer my partner."

Abby staying in the US...? Filing away the thought and the speculation that her decision might have something to do with his boss, McGee returned his attention to the woman in front of him. "You can still keep in touch," he offered quietly. "Email and online chatting are a great way to talk without costing a fortune. It's not like she's leaving your life forever."

"With Abby, that may be exactly what it means," she responded softly. "She said there was nothing keeping her in Israel any longer."

"And you think she should stay because of you," he finished her thought easily enough but was still startled when she opened her eyes to look at him in surprise. "You're obvious close."

Ziva smiled a little in agreement. "She is like a sister to me," she agreed. "We have been through a lot together."

"So she'll probably want to keep in touch with you, even if she's not living in Israel." McGee shrugged when she gave him a questioning look. "There's no point in getting upset about something that hasn't happened yet, Ziva."

She gazed at him for a few seconds, a smile playing on her lips that he couldn't decipher. "Are you always so kind to strangers, Tim McGee?"

"Only the pretty ones." He almost slapped himself in the forehead and did allow a groan to escape. "I must be channelling Tony," he muttered. He flushed at the confused look on her face. "I was going to go on a coffee run. You're welcome to come with me if you want some fresh air."

Ziva contemplated the offer for a few moments. "I would like that," she said eventually, watching him activate the elevator once more, seeing the grin on his face that he did his best to hide. Maybe she wasn't losing a friend as much as gaining one.

"Great." McGee joined her at the back of the elevator as it stopped at the second floor, smiling innocently at the agent who stepped inside and gave them a curious look, no doubt wanting to know why it'd taken so long for the elevator to make it down a level.

McGee just smiled.

*****

Ducky wasn't in the morgue when she got there but two people she didn't recognise were. Abby watched them for a moment or two before clearing her throat, trying to see the humour in the situation but unable to quash a little bit of bitterness that everyone at NCIS seemed to be hooking up with their colleagues after she'd left.

The couple jumped apart guilty, confusion and uncertainty on their faces when they realised the intruder wasn't someone they knew.

"Sorry to interrupt." Abby took a step further into the morgue. "I was looking for Doctor Mallard...?"

"He's just gone to get a blanket and pillow from the forensics lab," the young woman babbled nervously. "He said he was expecting a patient – a live one, not a dead one. Dead ones wouldn't usually use a blanket or pillow but then you wouldn't expect to see a live patient in the morgue, either."

The man beside her cleared his throat and interrupted her babbling with an affectionate smile. "You must be Abigail Sciuto. Doctor Mallard said you'd be coming down after you finished in MTAC. I'm Jimmy, Jimmy Palmer. I'm his assistant. And this is Ruby Rae, she's our forensic scientist."

"A temp, really. And I thought I was going to be an assistant rather than the lead lab tech and oh my God, did you say Abigail Sciuto?" The young woman's eyes widened, the hand that wasn't still in Jimmy's pocket moving to her mouth. "The same Abigail Sciuto who was published in 'The Forensic Examiner'?" When Abby nodded in confirmation, a high-pitched squeal escaped Ruby and she extracted herself from Jimmy so she could move closer and hold out a hand. "I love your work!" She exclaimed. "I've read every paper you've ever written."

"All three of them, then." Abby smiled politely and took the hand she was offered. She suddenly felt very old. "I'm flattered, Ms. Rae."

"It's Ruby, please. And I didn't just read the three you've had published, I've read the ones that you wrote as part of your degree, too. You have such a natural ability and instinct with forensics." Ruby shook her hand vigorously. "No offence, but I thought you'd be older. I studied your papers when I was at university."

"I'm older than I look," Abby assured her with a small smile.

"And yet you're only as old as you feel," Ducky added as he walked into the room. He carried a folded blanket in his arms with a pillow balanced precariously on top – both black with a red satin trim.

Abby took the pillow off him and looked down at it in surprise. "I thought these would be long gone by now."

"Of course not." Ducky walked over to the empty gurney she'd been resting on not an hour ago and set the blanket down on top of it. He turned to look at her with a solemn expression on his face. "We kept all of your things in your lab, my dear girl. Ready for you coming home." He didn't give her the chance to argue with his statement, looking to Jimmy and Ruby instead. "I didn't expect you both to still be here."

"We were just on our way out, Doctor Mallard." Jimmy ushered a still beaming Ruby out of the morgue. "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Sciuto!"

Abby shook her head and followed Ducky to the gurney. "Was I ever as young as Ruby?"

"You were... enthusiastic," Ducky answered diplomatically. He spread half of the blanket down on the cool metal and motioned for her to get up onto it. "Up you go and lie back. I want to see your stitches before I let you get some sleep."

"I miss being enthusiastic," she confessed with a sigh. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the soft material of the blanket. "I miss a lot of things about the way I used to be."

"Hmm." Ducky was gentle but she still flinched when he examined her stitches – not only because of the flash of pain but because of the other scars she knew he could see. "What exactly possessed you to move to Israel, Abigail? It seems to have done you more harm than good."

She waited until her skin was covered and the other half of the blanket was tucked around her before answering. "It's complicated, Ducky. There were a lot of factors... I just couldn't stay here."

"Because of Jethro?" He walked to his desk and rolled his chair over to her, sitting beside her and taking her hand. "He missed you. We both have."

Abby searched his face for any glimmer of anger or accusation but found none. Ducky was as calm and caring as she remembered him being and the relief that he hadn't changed was enough to bring tears to her eyes. "Nothing happened between us," she said eventually. "And despite what you and he might think, he wasn't the only reason I left. There were a lot of things going on back then. Things I couldn't tell even you about. Besides," she added, trying to avoid the curiosity that sprung into his eyes at her words. "Gibbs was still married to Stephanie when I left."

"Not for long afterwards." Ducky gave her hand a pat she thought was meant to be reassuring. "Though I don't believe he would betray his marriage vows or that you would be willing to indulge in an affair whilst he was married, I believe there was indeed something between you. I was here, my dear Abigail. I remember watching you both fall."

She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall and wished she could block out the memories that flooded back at his words. "I fell further than him. And harder." Her voice was barely a whisper, full of remembered pain as well as fresh anguish. "I couldn't stay, Ducky. If I'd stayed, I would've lost myself completely."

His fingers rubbed the back of her hand soothingly. "I always suspected you were frightened away by the depth of your feelings for him. Just as I always had hope that you would find your way back to us."

She turned her head and opened her eyes to look at him. "I'm not back. I can't stay. I'm not sure he'd even want me to."

"Nonsense." Ducky gave her a look that made her feel like she was being foolish. "I doubt a day's gone by that Jethro hasn't missed you, Abigail. Are you aware he's chased away every forensic scientist who has tried to replace you? I believe subconsciously he has always believed you would return."

"I doubt that." She laughed shortly but it was a bitter, unhappy sound. "I think it's sweet that you're trying to play match-maker, Ducks, but it's not going to work. It's far too late for that."

Ducky watched her close her eyes, signalling an end to the conversation. He gazed at her for a while longer, waiting until he was certain she was asleep before turning his attention to the person lingering in the doorway of his morgue. "Is it too late, Jethro? Or are you going to let her walk out of your life again?"

Gibbs had no answer but Ducky hadn't been expecting one. The Doctor turned his attention back to his patient when she sighed in her sleep and when he looked up again, Gibbs was gone.

*****

Ari Haswari was nowhere to be found.

Not even Ziva could get hold of him, which she was still surprised at even though she knew he'd tried to kill her best friend.

They followed every lead they had and she found she fit in well with Agent Gibbs' team. Though DiNozzo still treated her with suspicion, McGee and Kate had been more welcoming and she found herself wondering what it would be like to always work as part of a team, knowing there was someone there who had your back no matter what the situation. In Mossad, agents often worked alone. She'd never had a partner until Abby had come along and even then, they tended to split up a lot of the time. Abby didn't really like field work – she was good at it, but she preferred to be working in a lab or somewhere doing research or even running an operation from the command centre.

Working as part of a team was an interesting experience and one she would be reluctant to see end.

Just as she'd be reluctant to see her friendship with Abby end, which was what she feared would happen if she continued to hold her tongue. They hadn't spoken since she'd found out Abby had resigned from Mossad and while at first she'd been angry, they'd been through too much together for her to risk losing Abby completely.

Though removed from the case by Mossad, Director Sheppard had asked Abby to help out in the lab as the lab technician they had wasn't comfortable working such a big case on her own. That, and because Ruby Rae was one of Abby's biggest fans – and Ziva had her suspicions Ducky and Gibbs had had something to do with the Director's request, too.

Ziva found herself pacing outside the lab doors, torn between wanting to go in and wanting to go back up to the desk she'd been given to work at. McGee was the only one she'd told about her plan to make up with Abby. They'd been going out for coffee runs – jogs, she'd called them at first – together and she found him surprisingly easy to talk to. There was a lot she hadn't said – couldn't say – but she found him to be non-judgemental and always willing to offer advice. It was he who'd suggested she try and make amends with Abby and had suggested she take her former partner a large Caf-Pow – a caffeinated drink Abby was rapidly becoming addicted to – as a peace offering.

The sudden appearance of Ruby made her stop in her tracks, a glare arranging her features even as she realised it wasn't the lab assistant's fault that she'd been taken by surprise.

"Abby said you should go in before you wear the floor out," Ruby mumbled nervously, her gaze averted to the floor as she made her way to the elevator.

Ziva arched an eyebrow and found herself glancing down at the floor tiles she was walking on for a moment before she caught herself. "I will do that." She squared her shoulders and held her head up, her grip on the Caf-Pow in her hand almost tight enough to crush the container.

"It's about time," Abby spoke up from where she sat at the computer in the middle of the lab. Ari's face beamed back at her, a smug smile Ziva recognised on his face. "I was starting to think I had a stalker."

"Here." Ziva held out the Caf-Pow, her mind struggling to supply her with the words she wanted to say. "McGee said you had developed a taste for these... beverages."

"Caffeine in its best form," Abby declared with relish, taking the container from her. "Thank you." She sipped through the straw, a smile on her face. "These give me more of a buzz than Red Bull and that's saying something."

"Then perhaps I should not have got it for you." Ziva smirked, recollection on her face. "I had to sit next to you on the plane here while you drank several of those things. I would not wish that on anyone."

Abby's smile widened and she winked conspiratorially. "If nothing else, I'll be able to keep everyone on their toes." The smile faded after a few moments of tense silence. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought I'd have a chance when things were wrapped up here."

"You thought wrong." It was out of her mouth before she could stop it and Ziva gave her an apologetic look. "I am sorry also. I should have listened to you. I am sure you have your reasons for choosing to leave."

Turning back to the computer work station, Abby carefully set the Caf-Pow down. "I need to be closer to my family," she said after a short pause. "Not so close that I have to see them every day – I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment. But with everything that's happened..." She glanced at Ziva from beneath lowered eyelashes. "I never felt at home in Tel Aviv. You know that."

Ziva nodded in understanding; she did know. "You came to Israel to get over a broken heart but were never able to give it time to heal."

"Something like that." Abby gave her a wry smile and shook her head. "It did help, Ziva. Meeting you, becoming your friend..." Her expression softened. "It helped more than you can know."

Unexpected moisture stung her eyes and Ziva was grateful when Abby stepped forward and embraced her. "I will miss you so much," Ziva murmured, her own arms closing tightly around Abby's slender frame. "There is no one else I can talk to in Tel Aviv."

"You can email me. Or phone anytime. I'll always answer." Abby took a half-step back, her green eyes luminous.

The two women stared at one another in silence for a few minutes, sharing a look of mutual respect and affection. After a while, Abby chuckled and turned back to grab her Caf-Pow, taking a long slurp that broke the tension.

"Have you had any hits at the airports?" Ziva asked quietly, swiftly changing the subject back to their mission. She glanced at the image of Ari on screen and was surprised to feel a swell of anger instead of the affection she normally felt. "He has not tried to leave the country?"

"Not as far as I can tell." Abby's fingers flew gracefully over the keyboard. "If he has, he's made sure we wouldn't be able to track him but my instincts are telling me he won't have gone too far just yet." She lifted her gaze from the screen and glanced at Ziva. "He won't leave until he's made Gibbs suffer."

Ziva nodded in agreement, her brow furrowed. "I have been trying to work out why Ari would target Agent Todd. It would hurt Agent Gibbs to lose an any agent on his team but Ari could have easily taken out Tim or Agent DiNozzo instead."

"Tim, is it?" Abby gave her friend a speculative glance before shaking her head and growing serious. "I was thinking about that, too. Maybe it's because he's spent more time with Kate than the others and has a personal attachment to her."

"Or maybe because he thinks Agent Gibbs has a personal attachment to Agent Todd," Ziva continued quietly. "The easiest way to defeat an enemy is to make him vulnerable first. Perhaps he thought Gibbs would be weakened by Agent Todd's death though why, I do not know. There is no indication that they have ever had a romantic relationship... Abby...?" Noticing how pale her friend had gone, Ziva moved forward in concern. "Are you alright? Should I get Doctor Mallard?"

Shaking her head wordlessly, Abby sunk down onto her stool. "No, I'm fine. I'm okay." She bit down on her bottom lip and stared up at Ziva. "I think I know why he went after Kate," she said softly. "I think maybe it's my fault."

Ziva stared at her in confusion and reached out to lay a hand on Abby's shoulder. "How could it be your fault, Abby? You had no idea he planned to do this." She squeezed Abby's shoulder when her friend didn't respond. "What is important is that you stopped him, and that we need to find him now so he does not get the chance again."

Abby responded with a small nod but the colour took a long time in returning to her cheeks. "I think I know how we can do that, too."

The two women spent the next thirty minutes discussing the situation in hushed voices. A plan was formed and though Ziva hated every part of it, she knew she had no choice but to go along with it.

Even so, she found herself hoping Abby's theory was wrong and that Ari would not fall for their trap.

*****

There was something going on but he didn't know what. Gibbs returned to his desk from a trip down to the lab to check on Abby only to find Ruby there in her place, the easily intimidated assistant telling him that Abby had chosen to leave early.

He'd been disappointed, having planned on asking her over to his place for dinner so they could finally have the talk Ducky kept insisting they needed and was half-considering dropping unannounced by the hotel he knew she and Ziva were staying in on his way home when he reached the bullpen.

It was the way Ziva was staring anxiously at her screen that told him something was going on; a feeling of suspicion that only increased when her cell phone rang and caused the Mossad trained assassins to jump.

Assassins were made of sterner stuff but there was obviously something weighing heavily on Ziva's mind.

He waited until she'd finished her phone call and stood, reaching for her jacket, before approaching her stealthily. "Going somewhere, Officer David?"

A flicker of guilt flashed in her eyes before she schooled her expression into one of neutrality. "I am going to make sure Abby is okay," she said after a moment's hesitation. "You are aware she left early, yes?"

"I'm aware of it, yeah. Just as I'm aware I'm being lied to right now." He fought the urge to grab her arm when she started to move as if to leave, positioning his body so she couldn't get between him and her desk instead. "Where is Abby, Ziva?"

Ziva glanced passed him, at the agents who lowered their gazes in an attempt at escaping detection and bit back a sigh. "She is in danger," she responded in a voice low enough that only he could hear. "You can come with me but you must promise to stay out of the way. I will not let you endanger her, Agent Gibbs."

"As if I would." Still, alarm bells were ringing in his head and his gut twisted with the truth of her words. Gibbs did grab her arm then, keeping her close when she would have moved away. "If anything happens to Abby..."

"Nothing will if we leave now," Ziva retorted, her brown eyes flashing. "You are the one putting her in danger by preventing me from getting to her."

Gibbs let her arm go after a split-second and strode over to his own desk, grabbing his gun and badge. He ignored his agents and motioned with his head for Ziva to precede him towards the elevators. "Where exactly are we going?"

"To your house."

*****

It didn't look as though he'd made much progress with the boat though Abby suspected he'd finished the one she'd known in the past and burnt it, as was his style. She ran her fingertips over the wooden skeleton, enjoying the sensation of rough wood gradually giving way to smooth.

Watching him work on the boat had always been one of her favourite pastimes, though she hadn't had the opportunity to do so often. It was only when Stephanie was out of town on business or 'working late' that she'd let herself into the house, curling up on the chair in the corner with the blanket that held his scent wrapped around her as she watched him work.

It'd started when she'd had a bad day at work after an even worse break-up with her then-boyfriend. Stephanie had been out of town and Mrs. Mallard had been unwell so Ducky hadn't been able to invite her to their house. Gibbs had found her trying not to cry in her lab and insisted she go home with him for take-out and ice cream.

They'd never had an affair, despite what people thought. Not in the physical sense, anyway. In every other sense, yes, they'd perhaps done something wrong but Abby had forced herself to leave before it could go any further. She'd never been the other woman in a relationship and hadn't been about to start with Gibbs, no matter how much they might have wanted it.

There'd been a lot of hugs and platonic kisses to the cheek or forehead in the early days of their working relationship but those days had ended when the tension between them thickened and grew into something a lot less casual. In her final days at NCIS, they tried to avoid being alone in the same room together and never touched – no accidental brushing of their hands as she handed him an evidence report, no kisses to her cheek or pat on the shoulder when he got the results he wanted.

Being with him but not being able to touch or talk to him with the ease that had once been so natural was worse than not being with him at all, Abby had decided. She'd left because she couldn't stand the thought of him going home and making love to a woman who wasn't her, because it hurt to know he looked at her with so much love and undisguised lust in his eyes but went home and gave the passion she knew lingered beneath the surface to someone else.

Partly, anyway. She'd had other reasons, too. One involving her brother and another involving Gibbs, one that still hurt to think about, a betrayal of trust she'd never imagined him capable of. Even now she cursed the day she'd stopped by unannounced and been forced to watch him drive away with Stephanie beside him in the car. Even now she wished she'd just got in her own car and left instead of listening to the man who stepped out of the shadows of the house and told her not to worry, that the marriage wouldn't last.

They never did after what happened to the first Mrs. Gibbs.

"I see you have recovered from our earlier encounter." The voice didn't surprise her as much as it should have done but Abby's shoulders still tensed. "Enough to share your bed with him again, anyway."

"Careful, Ari, you sound almost jealous." Abby turned from the boat slowly, watching him walk down the remaining stairs and step out of the shadows into the dim light of the basement. "And for the record, I've never shared a bed with Gibbs. That's a pleasure both you and he have been denied."

Ari smirked at her, lifting his hand so she could see the light glint off the gun he held. "It is you who should watch what you say, Abigail."

"You're going to kill me regardless of what I say," Abby retorted calmly. "Revenge for stopping you from killing Agent Todd?"

"That, and because I realise now I'll get the desired effect so much more so with you." The smirk on his face widened and his eyes gleamed. "He is the one you spoke with Ziva about, isn't he? The American who broke your heart."

"You're the second person to say that to me today," Abby mused. "I never told anyone I had a broken heart."

"You inferred it." Ari arched an eyebrow. "And you certainly behaved like a woman in love does when the affair is over. You were reckless, out of control. It is why my father recruited you for Mossad."

"It wasn't all Gibbs' doing," Abby corrected quietly, her eyes dark. "And you know it." She walked towards the stool beside the workbench slowly and sat down, wondering in some distant part of her mind where the chair she'd used had gone and who – Stephanie or Gibbs – had gotten rid of it. "If you're going to kill me anyway, maybe you'd be so kind as to tell me why you're doing this. Why Gibbs? Why betray everything you stand for to get revenge against him for something I'm not even sure he's done wrong?"

Ari chuckled, an unsettling sound that made her skin crawl. "Oh, Abigail. I will miss you. It will be worth it, though, to see the look on his face when he returns home and finds you lying in a pool of blood. As unable to save you as he was his wife and child." He saw her stiffen and laughed again. "Oh, yes, I know about Shannon and Kelly Gibbs. I can do my research, too, Abigail and I know how they died just as I know he never confided in you about them, which is no doubt one of the reasons you suffered so much pain. Your lover didn't trust you enough to confide his greatest secret in you. You had to discover it from someone else." He smirked at the surprised look on her face. "I overheard you telling your precious brother about it. About your meeting with a man named Franks who shattered the illusion you had of being the only woman in his heart."

"That's why you went after Kate, and why you're going to kill me." The surprise gave way to a calm acceptance. "I suspected you knew about Shannon but I couldn't figure out how. Now I know." She held her chin up a little higher. "What I still want to know is why you're willing to go to so much trouble. Why give up everything for this?"

"He has the misfortune of reminding me of my father," Ari admitted after another long moment.

Abby blinked, genuinely surprised. "Your father loves you. He'd do anything for you."

"He is a bastard, Abigail, and you cannot deny it." He shook his head and leaned against the shell of the boat. "From the moment of my birth, he groomed me to be one thing... His mole in Hamas. He sent me to Edinburgh to become a doctor so I could work in the Gaza camps alongside my mother. When he had her killed, I had no trouble convincing anyone that I wanted to join the Iz Adin al-Kassam."

"I doubt your father had your mother killed, Ari. From what I've heard, he loved her a great deal."

Ari snorted. "He loved her so much he was warming another woman's bed before her body had cooled. He planned it so I was visiting him in Tel Aviv. After years of planning, of using both my mother and I, he finally had his mole in Hamas." He laughed bitterly. "He has never known how much I hated him. I wish I could see his face when he realises he created not a mole but a monster, one eager to strike at the heart of Mossad and Israel." A small smile played on his lips. "One who stole from him his youngest daughter as vengeance for what he did to my mother."

"You?" Abby's eyes narrowed and her hands clenched into fists. "You were involved...? You sick son of a bitch..."

"Ah, ah, ah. Your mother should have taught you manners, Abigail. It might have saved your life." He straightened and took a step towards her, hand up as if to touch her cheek. "We could have been so good together, you and I. You have the potential within you to be so much more."

She turned her cheek away from his touch, clenching her jaw when his fingers brushed her skin. "I'm happy being the way I am, thanks."

Ari let his hand drop to his side and instead lifted the one holding the gun. "Then it is a shame you will not be able to live that way for much longer. Goodbye, Abigail."

Abby closed her eyes just seconds before a shot rang out. She exhaled slowly and let her shoulders slump when she heard the thump of a body hitting the ground, opening her eyes when she heard movement on the stairs. She blinked when she saw not only Ziva but Gibbs, too, and bit down on her bottom lip at the look on his face. "How long...?"

"Long enough." Gibbs stared at her solemnly, his expression unreadable.

Abby sighed softly and got to her feet, avoiding looking down at the body bleeding out on the cold cement floor. She focused instead on Ziva, who looked ahead blindly, tears shining in her eyes. "Ziva..." She reached out and took the gun from Ziva's hand, holding it securely in her own as she moved to block Ziva's view of the body. "I killed Ari," she declared quietly, meeting and holding Ziva's gaze when the Israeli glanced up at her. "You will tell your father and everyone else that I killed Ari in self-defence." She looked passed Ziva to Gibbs, a pleading expression on her face. "I killed him," she repeated, holding his stare until he gave her a nod of understanding.

"I must go and call my father," Ziva murmured. She glanced down at the body once before tearing her gaze away. She turned and walked passed Gibbs, clinging to the railing of the stairs as she made her way up to the ground floor.

Gibbs held his tongue until he was sure she was out of earshot. "His father is...?"

"Assistant Director David. Ari is – was Ziva's half-brother." Abby did look down at the body then, her fists clenching at the blood pooling beneath his cooling body. She shuddered and took a step away from Ari, unwittingly bringing herself that much closer to Gibbs. She kept her gaze fixed on the top button of his shirt, deciding it was safer than getting caught by his eyes. "I won't say anything to anyone about your wife and daughter. Nor will Ziva. She'll go back to Tel Aviv and I'll find another job... You won't have to see either of us again..."

His hand against her cheek caught her by surprise. She closed her eyes as he tilted her face upwards, his thumb stroking along the line of her cheekbone. "Abby... Look at me."

She didn't want to but there was a note of command in his voice she couldn't ignore. She opened her eyes and met his gaze, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I want you to stay," he told her softly, his voice almost too quiet. "I need you to stay."

"Gibbs..." Abby tried to speak despite the lump in her throat. "I can't be what you want and I won't settle for being second best..."

His finger against her lips stopped her from going further. "You don't know what I want, Abby. And you could never be second best."

She wasn't convinced and she knew it showed on her face. She watched him move closer, unable to get her body to move, and almost felt his lips against hers – so close, his breath warm against her – when a floorboard creaked and the moment was gone.

They stepped apart just as Ziva came into view, her composure regained but her eyes still showing her shock. "My father would like me to accompany to body back to Tel Aviv immediately. I have also called McGee, and he said he would inform the Director and the other members of your team, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs somewhat reluctantly let his arms drop so Abby could start up the stairs towards her friend. He stared down at the body at his feet, satisfaction running through his veins even though he hadn't got to pull the trigger himself.

He heard Abby tell Ziva that it was going to be okay, that the worst was over and, for the first time in a long time, he let himself believe it was true.

*****

End. There will be a short sequel tying up some loose ends, I think.


End file.
